Much has been made of The Economist list, which is heavily weighted towards left wing thinkers, and Krugman’s reply. Here’s my thought:
1. Academics are higher status among the left
2. The left feels feels the right owns the ‘economy’ issues and compensates for insecurity by lionizing those that can produce ‘hard headed’ reasoning for their priorities, or dress them up in the right rhetoric and, as Tyler Cowen would say, mood affiliation.
Fundamentally the left cares more about economists and so supplies most of the aggregate fanbase for economists.
Not Unreasonable 
Actually the left NEEDS economists more than the right does. The idea that people who make decisions based on politics (rather than economics) are actually good for the economy is so inherently outlandish that it can only pass the laugh test if you have a credentialed economist promoting it. So the Krugmans and Stiglitzes of the world fill a market niche by catering to the prejudices of the intolerant and economically illiterate left. And I found Krugman’s comment that the right relies on hacks while the left relies on economist to be laughable, because Krugman is perhaps the ultimate hack. He just uses his economist title (and Nobel Prize) as an intimidation tactic.
How many free marketeers does it take to screw in a lightbulb? *
The Left wants more Gov’t power and control, which is easier for the Media to report on. Movies only have so many people speaking important lines …
The Right wants more free markets. What is a market? A group of people making buying and selling decisions, with the amount of “freedom” based on how little gov’t controls or restricts the choices.
*Anser – 0. The market will take care of it.
(No news story here …)
Answer